Abstract

GOMES, Anabela de Jesus  and  MENDES, António José. Looking for a context to support early learning programming. Educ. Form. Tecnol. [online]. 2015, vol.8, n.1, pp.13-27. ISSN 1646-933X.  https://doi.org/10.1646‐933X-v8n1201501060013.

High failure rates are a common problem in many programming courses. This has motivated many researchers to propose methodologies and tools to help students. However, the panorama has remained mostly unchanged. Many causes for the learning problems have already been identified in the literature. Our research group has been conducting a set of experiments to identify and understand students programming difficulties. This paper includes the results of a set of studies conducted in the last few years. Their results served as a basis to define a new pedagogical approach consisting in a set of educational practices, looking to create learning contexts that motivate students, increase their involvement with course activities, and maximize their learning possibilities. The application of this pedagogical approach in a real setting is described and the results obtained are discussed.

Keywords : Computer Science Education; Enginefering students; Engineering education; Learning Styles; Problem Solving; Motivation; Learning Taxonomies.

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